Advice for A Newbie? Should I remove SREH until PMs come?

[Sarah Jane]

I have a terrific set up by the river, loads of open space. Had an old plastic house from Lowes that I bought years ago and mounted it at the old house. No PMs for 3 years. Mounted that old thing on 3/31 at the new house the day after we moved in and it was occupied the next day!

This year I have no PMs yet, but bought and installed a nice (expensive!) 18-gourd system for horizontal Troyers. Bought and put up only 6 gourds.

Questions:
1. Should I remove the SREHs until PMs get established? I have not seen a single starling or House Sparrow. Loads of chipping sparrows, but no house sparrows. I bought a sparrow trap and then realized the loads of sparrows were chipping sparrows.
2. Maybe they liked the old plastic house because it is a TERRIFIC location and the old plastic house did not smell like plastic?
Just smeared mud all over the inside of my plastic Troyer gourds today. I managed to save justone of the 3 nests, as DH threw away the other two and they blew away in the wind. *DH = Dear Husband
3. Last week we had a 35 degree night. Haven't seen many birds until this week. Saw one bird on the PM house but couldn't tell what it was. It flew away before I could get the binoculars but it was the size of a PM. Maybe I need to just wait?
4. I have several bird feeders near my house, but at least 40 feet away from the PM rack. Will bird feeders be a problem?
5. My square pole with wench is set up. DH declared that snakes cannot climb poles. I disagree and will have to install a baffle myself, I guess. (I bought the whole setup, DH was my installer.) Once the pole is cemented in, is it too late to add a baffle? ARe there any that snap on? I will add one if I get PMs this year.
6. I do not have pine needles in any of the gourds. Will it matter much? Last year's neat, clean PM nests were devoid of any candy wrappers and made of long dried grasses, of which there's plenty about. I did plant 3 pine saplings this spring, and have spotted several pine trees in town that I can rob. Will green needles be OK? I plan to go at night and cut some off the pine trees on city property. No one will care as long as I don't cut the branches bald. But heck if I am going to pay $50 for someone to ship me a box of pine needles! Everyone seems to have raked their lawns this year...
7. Should I offer verticals? We do have owls and hawks. And raccoons, 'possums, foxes, coyotes, and feral cats in this area.I will be a wreck if I ever witness fledging.
8. Has anyone bought O-rings for the horizontal Troyer to prevent leaking? If so, would you share the size/where you bought them?

I bought a dawn song player today, the magnetic one with the digital sounds. I have the mP3, but getting a device to pair with a weatherproof Bluetooth speaker that is also weather proof is not happening. Bluetooth range is only 15'.

I can't think why the PMs from last year did not like the new gourds, assuming they came back, other than that they stank to them. Here I went and followed all the advice to establish a better, buildable colony and probably should have replaced the plastic house with a better house and gourds underneath. Old pole was not able to lower without tipping the whole house, though, so long term it would not have been good.

Wish me luck. Was a PM landlord years ago, moved, and left that PM house with the sale of my property. I did not realize how lucky I was, because that house also got martins the first year.

[BillieJR]

Hi Sarah Jane, Welcome. I'm in the same boat as you are - I had PMs in the past and lost them for whatever reason, I don't know for sure. Predators, I think.

I do know that you can get predator guards that you can put on and take off without taking the pole down. That's the kind I actually just got yesterday, altho my new pole and rack are not out of their boxes yes. I will probably get a couple more of them to put on the poles that I have houses on, too. I know they have them here, that's where I got mine. They may have them elsewhere, too, but I don't know.

Good luck - I hope you get martins to come and stay this year. I hope I do, too.

[John Miller]

Welcome.

As to why martins have not returned to the new setup, one reason may be that small colonies of just a few pairs are not always consistent. We hope and with luck that a colony starts out with a pair or two and grows each year, but sometimes it does not. One probably has to work up to a dozen or more nesting martins to be more assured of reliable returns.

The Troyer SREH is not as restrictive as some and I think should be fine. Colonies can be started using more restrictive entries, such as crescents.

Yes, put in some pre-nest. These gourds are large and somewhat slick and pre-nest can really help the martins with nest building and may make the gourds look used, which the martins may find reassuring. You can add some dry pine straw, which is good because it does not absorb moisture, or just some wheat straw. Swirl a handful around and press it to lay flat.

There's a lot of season left to go...hoping you get martins soon.

John M

[flyin-lowe]

Try to answer some of your questions to the best of my knowledge.

1 Many people start colonies with SREH so I would leave them. The martins can enter them. I would almost venture to say that in this day and age more martins fledge from SREH housing then round holes. I am wandering if there is any research on that???? You probably know this but since you mention sparrows they will have to be dealt with no matter what entrance you have SREH is only affective on starlings.

2 Mud will not hurt at all, martins and most other birds don't have a strong sense of smell, so the new plastic gourds will not be a problem. The troyer gourds are some of the best out there.

3 Not sure exactly what you are asking. As far as waiting (if that is what you are asking) I keep my housing closed up until I see martins checking it out. To many problems keeping competitors out of it.

4 I have seen 2 issues with feeders. Most common feed from big box stores will attract tons of sparrows, starlings, and other birds you might not want. Feeders can also draw in hawks and other predators to your area.
5 You are right, snakes can most definitely climb square poles. There are baffles made to go around square poles depending on which pole and what size. Bird netting is good for snakes as well.

6 I used to put pine straw in all my gourds, each pair reacts differently to them. I have seen some pull them all out and start over, I have seen some build on top of them. The only thing I have never seen is martins move in and use only the pine needles I give them. The always start fresh or add to. Now I offer some with and some without. Every year some choose the empty ones so I offer them that. As long as they are the longer (3-4 inch) needles and not the short thick ones. If you have a park or golf course near by chances are you can get some somewhere. They go a long way. I can fill up a couple wal mart bags and fill all my cavities with that much.
7 I have both vertical and horizontal gourds and martins have used both. They are both about the same depth. A good predator guard will make more of a difference then the deeper gourds for ground predators.
8 Ive never had issues with Troyer gourds leaking too much. The pine straw will not hold moisture so I rely on the drain holes in the bottom. If you seal them up too tight you might have more moisture issues from lack of ventilation then you would from rain leaking in, not an expert on that though.

Again I don't think the smell of new gourds is an issue at all..

[TheSmiths]

2. Maybe they liked the old plastic house because it is a TERRIFIC location and the old plastic house did not smell like plastic?

Songbirds, in general, have a poor sense of smell so the plastic won't bother them.

4. I have several bird feeders near my house, but at least 40 feet away from the PM rack. Will bird feeders be a problem?

I'm curious about this myself. We hurriedly set up a new pole during one of the very few dry days we had then realized it was very close to our non-martin feeding station. (Ours is species-specific so no starlings or house sparrows are attracted).

5. My square pole with wench is set up. DH declared that snakes cannot climb poles. I disagree and will have to install a baffle myself, I guess. (I bought the whole setup, DH was my installer.) Once the pole is cemented in, is it too late to add a baffle? ARe there any that snap on? I will add one if I get PMs this year.

Snakes climb amazingly well. We had one climb over our predator baffle -- likely using the seam on the back for leverage -- and devour at least one House Wren nestling. Many people use a predator guard along with bird netting to prevent snakes from turning housing into a bird buffet. You can show your DH this photo -- https://www.purplemartin.org/forum/view ... hp?t=17591 . There are also photos on Chuck Abare's PM website. You can purchase a hinged quick-release baffle that opens from the PMCA shop or other online store or make a homemade baffle using stovepipe sold in hardware stores.

6. But heck if I am going to pay $50 for someone to ship me a box of pine needles! Everyone seems to have raked their lawns this year...

You can sometimes purchase pine straw from a local nursery for much less and farmers will sometimes give you leftover wheat straw if you explain what you will be using it for.

8. Has anyone bought O-rings for the horizontal Troyer to prevent leaking? If so, would you share the size/where you bought them?

PMCA sells a small stainless steel tube that can be used -- https://www.purplemartin.org/shop/produ ... k-stopper/

I bought a dawn song player today, the magnetic one with the digital sounds. I have the mP3, but getting a device to pair with a weatherproof Bluetooth speaker that is also weather proof is not happening. Bluetooth range is only 15'.

I used an MP3 player with a small cheap wired rechargeable speaker. Both were put into a ziplock bag which was hung from our gourd rack using a wire coat hanger. We drew in a few flybys but no residents. This year our speaker died so the dawnsong cd is being played using a very old CD/cassette player we still had. (I had to screw the lid down so the cd would play). We cover it with a plastic bag to keep dew off.

Wish me luck. Was a PM landlord years ago, moved, and left that PM house with the sale of my property. I did not realize how lucky I was, because that house also got martins the first year.

Best wishes. We're hoping this is finally our year as well.



Edit: I was posting at the same time as flyin-lowe.

[-=DKC=-]

4. I have several bird feeders near my house, but at least 40 feet away from the PM rack. Will bird feeders be a problem?

I suggest using thistle feeders only. This way you can feed many of the most desirable birds but House Sparrows give up pretty quickly. If you buy thistle/sunflower chip mix the good birds go crazy for it.

[Sarah Jane]

Thank you for the advice.

I am ordering the predator guard and the stainless steel tubes to prevent leaking in the horizontal gourds. Saw a black-out liner for Troyer gourd
lids, and might make some of my own. I put some mud on the entrances.
I have seen only one male house sparrow, all others are Chipping Sparrows. I am not in the city and so there's not as much for HOSP to scavenge. I have 9 male cardinals (counted them all in one view) and 7 female cardinals. Now that winter is over here, I am slowly cutting back on the seed because the Cardinals will get territorial soon as they start the breeding season. I had an entire flock of American Goldfinches for a couple of months. They were all gone one day last week. Titmice, Phoebes, wrens. I am keeping an eye on the wrens and put up 5 small bird houses in the trees for other cavity birds.

I will remove the feeding stations, because they will draw predators. I bought a sparrow trap and was going to set that up on the ground where many feed since they are used to it, but realized after it arrived that none are HOSP. All are chipping sparrows. I will not touch them. I am in North Texas, an hour's drive from Fort Worth.

I suppose it's a waiting game. Perhaps the birds that grew up in cheap plastic "martin" houses are just doing what is familiar to them. I might put up the stupid plastic house next to the expensive gourd rack next year if they do not stop by this year.

I did see what looked like a PM on the perch earlier this week, but it flew away before I could grab the binos. Size and coloring were right, however, for a female PM. Two other PM houses I have had at past residences have been occupied the first year. They were the cheap plastic or aluminium kind. I will keep trying. My gourd rack is 95 feet from the house, 14' tall, about 300 ft from a river, 100 ft from woods, and 50 ft from a large tree. It's got a huge empty meadow on one side and my front yard/house on the other; perfect location for PMs....! Maybe I should hire a PM realtor? ;^) Magnetic dawn song thingie arriving today....

[Sarah Jane]

No martins this year after replacing the crappy plastic house with Troyer Hor Gourds w/SREH. I think the birds in my area must be used to the PM house vs. gourds. I moved the plastic house down to the river side in amongst the trees with a clear flight path on one side facing the river.

I have PM chatter playing 4AM - 9AM and again 2 PM - 4PM.

Still have my cheap feeders up. I have many chipping sparrows but have not seen a single House Sparrow this season, out here in the country. No starlings. Cardinals, chipping sparrows, tree swallows, wild turkeys, a road runner, humming birds galore, titmice, and one bluebird. No PMs.

Daubed mud on the gourd entrances. Decoy on perch. I will definitely buy a couple of round-hole Troyer horizontal gourds for next year, mixed in with the SREH. Haven't seen a single starling this year. I wonder if I can retrofit the round hole Troyers with SREH later?

Next year I will put up the gourds in late March rather than early March as I did this year. I am guessing that any PMs nearby are only familiar with the large PM houses. If they have never seen a gourd or a SREH, then that's 2 strikes, in my book, against setting up house.

[handyman315]

Cannot speak to the Texas PM season, but it certainly seems way too early to give up on 2018. New colonies are often started by, or anchored by, SY birds, or there are SY birds present as mates, often young females. SYs nest later than the adults, sometimes as much as 4 to 6 weeks later. At the very least you have a long PM season in Texas.

Any pictures of your site? Is it open enough? Can Martins see it easily?

Try to hang in there.